Did anyone notice that there isn’t a menu button? There’s now a multitask…

jack

it doesnt support HEVC anymore lol

sinisin

All you people whining about Samsung not coming out with a phone that works for you and does your chores need to get an iPhone. I’ve used every major brand of Android, from low to high end. Samsung is by far the best OEM Android has ever seen. I must admit that TW is a giant over the top mess of a UI but as with all my phones, they get rooted and run CM so it’s not an issue. Samsung continues to make phones with removable batteries and SD card slots. Eat your heart out HTC and iPhone.

ChristianPasquariello

Reminds me of this…

Radies and Jentamen…..

master94

Note 3 is still better specs. I was hoping for a real upgrade. This better be cheap or LG G3 and HTC new one will be the phones to beat

Amilia Perez

A bit disappointing. The rumors were Exynos Octa 64 bit, no bezel screen, 2K resolution, multiple SKUs with a premium metallic casing, 32GB or 64GB internal storage (not 16GB and 32GB). We got none of this. It’s a very incremental update, similar to Apple.

The CPU is marginally faster than the Snap 800 which has been around for half a year now. Time to wait and see what the competition does.

They even made the phone’s dimensions significantly bigger than the S4. The S4 increased its screen size by 0.2″ without increasing the phone size (it’s actually slightly smaller than S3), by reducing the bezels. The S5 is increasing the screen by only 0.1″ however, it’s increasing the phone size significantly over the S4.

Extremely disappointed. My reaction is basically the same as my reaction to Apple’s new iPhone reveals in September. Nothing to be excited about. It’s just more of the same.

I’m just glad they didn’t go with the GNote 3’s faux stitched leather back. That said, I do hope it’s grippy.

SamBoy

That heart beat thing is nothing new you can do that now with a regular phone and an app that’s been around since the Droid 1 was released.

GutterIsATool

So…with the flap over the USB port, does this have wireless charging? Or is it just going to be super annoying to charge?

MikeKorby

My assumption is for the IP67 dust/water resistance

Justen DeBowles

It must kill people here to know that this phone will outsell the S4 and every other android device by a LARGE margin because this is what the people want. They don’t want Nexus, you do. Folks don’t want Xperia, They DAMN sure don’t want LG with it’s “weird back buttons ” (customers say that all the time…how’s that Flex doin?). Honestly it’s a good phone and incremental upgrade and good for android as a whole. There’s more hate here than on an Iphone article. Apparently android “fans” have reached a point where they actually dislike the manufacturer that is keeping android in the forefront of the world right now… which makes no sense. If you want to see android flourish as a whole, then stand behind all manufacturers and help the others get to Samsung’s level, not bash Samsung and praise others who’s phones aren’t as successful…

DJ

I like the S5. The textured back looks miles better then the s4, and although it may not be as many changes to touchwhiz that most people were hoping for, I like that they have at least made some changes, and it looks better. So many haters, I don’t agree with this phone being as bad as everyone’s portraying it to be.

Eric Blackman

I’m on the S4 and there’s nothing here that makes me want to upgrade. 3 gb of ram might have piqued my interest.

Amorel

Bring on a 1080p MOTO X with bigger battery!

LaFave07

The next big yawn is here.

Lumia Nexus

my NOTE 3 Exynos 8 Core with 3 gb ram lags so who the heck wants a new Galaxy with 2gb ram. even if the 2gb on s5 may be modern and better it will still be no match for my Note 3. i dont bloody want more camera features. Oh Microsoft pls bring a better Lumia so i can change i am sick of same to same crap from Android in General

Scott Webber

I know it’s just a spec bump, but I think that’s ok. I was actually really happy with what I saw here, until I found out it’s bigger than the s4. That is just completely unacceptable.

I really hope moto X2 is announced soon with 1080p screen. I can’t stand how huge these devices are getting.

fartbubbler

I’m now in love with my Moto X even more.

joejoe5709

Versus LG G2:

Processor slightly better, but not mind blowingly so
Battery smaller but we’ll see what Power Saving Mode can do
Screen smaller, but no on-screen keys so that’s a tie
Same RAM. Kinda disappointing, really
16MP Camera is pretty cool. OIS included? Should be a great camera either way
Kit Kat, but G2 getting it also very soon
Dust and water resistance is actually pretty cool
Finger scanner… Yeah ok I guess that’s cool but until it’s more universal, it’s a gimmick.
Heart rate sensor? Weird but okay sure
Needs wireless charging especially if you’re going to cover the bottom port
Of course SD card slot and whatnot which for me isn’t a deal breaker

All in all, obviously at the same price point you’d get the S5. It’s a beast of a phone and should do very well. But the G2 can be found for free on contract these days and it’s still 90% what this phone is. And as a current G2 owner, I’m not at all blown away by the specs and I still feel pretty good about jumping on the G2 a couple months ago. I have my doubts that the S5 will have the guts to compete with what comes later this year – especially if LG continues to kick butt. That said, we’re pretty much at a point of refinement and specs are only incremental at this point. So the improvements are welcomed, but not necessary.

Daniel Walsh

The only good thing is that Touchwiz has been improved

Buddy Israel

I’m honestly not impressed…this will be the first Galaxy S series I do not purchase.

Destroythanet

Ever since the Note 2 came out, I stopped by Galaxy S phones.

Buddy Israel

Yea I may switch to LG… going to wait and see what the Note 4 or whatever it is called brings to the table. Likely just a couple of extra cores or higher clocking. If so…I may ride my S4 til it dies…

Daniel Walsh

The Sony Xperia Z2 is awesome. Sony has really impressed me lately and they know how to make premium and great hardware.

Daniel Walsh

Sony Xperia Z2>SGS5

Daniel Walsh

A disappointment and I’m not surprised. Lame design and hardware. UGH!

Well they have already dropped Android from their wearable line can they just use Tizen for everything and ditch Android so the real players like Sony LG and HTC can get more recognition for the great phones they are making!?

Please Samsung just leave the party and take your crap skin over to your own OS

People really like to judge. The smartphone has been refined to the point that there isn’t really much more you can add to it, hence the fingerprint and heart-beat scanners. This is also why they are developing new form factors: Google Glass, smart watches, etc. Compare this to a Droid phone from 2-3 years and tell me the difference isn’t astounding. Is there anything truly innovative and better you can think of to add to these phones? There is nothing wrong with evolution. In real-life, it is usually gradual and not revolutionary. Expect evolution, not revolution. That is product iteration.

Guest

My God, Droid Life has seriously turned into the biggest bunch of Android elitist morons on the Internet! You’re all such experts on everything to do with mobile. All you idiots do is spout the same crap as the next guy. All of you trying to include yourself in this exclusive Android club that truly cares about Android. Unlike the heathen masses who just don’t understand phones like you do. I just read a quick review of the S5 on Android central and they talked calmly about how it was a very nice phone feeling well built with a lot of great features. The Samsung hate on this site has gone crazy lately. I think you nuts need to think about where Android would be without them . Considering probably 80% of Android phones are Samsung you need to give them more than a little credit for Androids success. I’ve had HTC phones, Samsung phones and a nexus tablet. All of them were great devices. You people seriously need to open your mind a little. Some of you are turning into the technology equivalent of a racist. Thinking that what you believe is better than what someone else believes. And that anybody who thinks otherwise is beneath you. Just give it a rest already, and enjoy the diversity of Android

Hey it is a nice phone but it’s not good enough for the die hard Android fanboy like most of us on here it’s only a slight increase from the S4 and with the fact they keep short handing the US on the specs.

Dana Alan

No thanks. Happy to stay with my Galaxy S4.

DJ

I hope the the AMOLED whites don’t have the yellow tint

srqdude

The hideous gold looks like a Band Aid.

Brett R

This is the entry level model right? Isn’t there a premium device to be launched as well?

redskins59rocs .

Well HTC blow me away because I would rather just keep my S4 than buy this

joejoe5709

Hmmmm my LG G2 still feels pretty fresh. 🙂

Nate

I have an Galaxy S4. Im glad I bought the LG G2 vs waiting for the S5!

ChristianPasquariello

Raides and jentamen…..2 gigs of Ram and dimpled plastic.

Mvrcel Lgt

if just not people would still buy it just because of it’s brand. I hate those free tickets to success. Dont get me wrong, Samsung DID build great devices and deserve the success, but blind followers can’t be what the smartphone-market should be build on. Even more when companies who DO still move forward like Oppo, HTC, Motonovo etc. do struggle and nearly surrender. I simply hate when there is no competition no more just because people hate to think.

Yep, even my DNA has a 2.1 mp ffc but it also comes with 88° viewing angle, not sure about the viewing angle on S5? And as we know, the DNA also has built-in wireless charging.

hkklife

AND, let’s not forget that the DNA came out nearly 18 months ago (fall 2012). That phone really was ahead of its time in a lot of ways, gimped storage and battery aside. 1080P 5″ screen, quad core, and Qi wireless charging were all unheard of in 2012 and the fact that it still might get updated to KitKat makes it even more memorable.

George264

I thought this might be my first Samsung purchase. I was expecting a new design really high end specs and a fingerprint sensor that works like apples where you just put your finger on for half a second. It works incredibly well on my 5S, but it seems like the max’s sensor on a home button. Waiting on M8.

Daniel Walsh

This phone has a FAIL all over it.

Rawheat

I don’t know why but the device doesn’t even look that nice. I don’t see why anyone with an S4 would even consider upgrading to this device. We’ve well reached a point of diminishing returns on hardware upgrades. Upgrades like this one leads quickly to end user upgrade fatigue. I don’t have an issue giving you my money…but earn it at least!

LionStone

Yea, it’d be a good upgrade from a GS3 though…

Dave

Not a whole lot of changes, but really the masses who buy these don’t care. It’s still a fast, efficient, and feature packed device. There are some things I had hoped for, but they obviously sell these to average consumers and not the dev community. I’m content with my Note 2, wouldn’t trade it for anything currently available, even the Moto X or G2 I returned after a few days.

Daeshaun Griffiths

i’ll wait for the review. It looks fluid, little redesign. not going going to call it ugly but only the black looks ok. I like the fingerprint functionality. sounds like a solid camera, did they say if it has ois? battery saver mode sounds useful. Less glare on the display +10. Good upgrade from the s4.

Kurt Weber

Anyone else notice the multitasking button instead of a menu button..? Thought that was interesting coming from Samsung.

chris_johns

I wanna LOL so bad….to be honest i like the way the back of the black one looks…but thats as far as it goes…stop making phones bigger please stop the maddness!
thank you moto and google for trying to stop that maddness…moto x all day baby

Gideon Waxfarb

145g, wow. That’s even heavier than the HTC One. And my Nexus 4, which already felt like a brick in my pocket 🙁

This almost seems like a downgrade… Hope the new One and G2 will be promising. The G2 has a larger display with smaller device size.

Guest

By “new G2,” you mean Z2 or G3?

Jordan

Well, the Galaxy S5 leaves a LOT of room for improvement when the S6 eventually is announced.

Brian Ward

You are quite the optimist!

maxx1987

wow, all samsungs financial advantage and i still see a form/function advantage of the G2, which was released months ago…bigger battery, lighter weight, bigger screen, smaller form, on par internals.

what a disappointment.

Scott in MA

I still think this looks pretty good when I upgrade from the S3 when my contract ends in July.

Keith Taylor

So what will everyone say when the next HTC One looks like well the HTC One and the Z2 looks like the Z1 and the next Iphone still looks like the last few. I have a G2 and when the G3 comes out in around Sept it will look like guess what folks, you guessed it a G2. Tell you what tell me what you want in a phone and I will make it for you. Just let me know. I got the skills to pay the bills. That is if I had bills.

Chippah

Will it?

Intellectua1

Really though, people here are expecting a reinvention of the wheel..

onlygoodtime88

but still anything better than this thing any new flagship and heck even phones from 6 months ago are better than this thing. samsung screwed up all samsung phones because of there stupid tizen.

maxx1987

the difference is that the one is actually one of the best designed phones ever, aesthetically speaking. i will say that i am frustrated by the little “htc” black bar on the bottom bezel, but aside from that the one’s design and form smokes samsung, who could easily have poured a little more money into a better form. also, there’s more than one way to make a great design, and it wouldn’t demand a complete refresh of what samsung is already doing. for example, the g2 isn’t quite as premium looking as the one, however compared to the S5 it has a bigger battery and screen and somehow manages to be both lighter and smaller than the S5. a poor effort from samsung IMO.

thecokedragon

People complain about the Galaxy S design looks because they’ve been doing it for three years now. Not to mention, the change to the back is minimal, and to most I’ve seen, horrifying and the changes to the front are unwanted, bringing greater bezel and an only barely larger display. The One has an absolutely beautiful design that is totally unique and no one would mind it making a comeback this year; the same goes for the Z1, hence why the Z2 is still amazing hence minor changes. The G2 will definitely need a revamp, however. Even though it only happened once, with the difference between the G2 and Optimus G being extremely noticeable, they really are going to need to reinvent the wheel with the G3, or it’s not going to bode well in the eyes of Android’s most keen eyes — that is, those of us who go along all Android sites doing our research and getting our fix 24/7 on DL and other.

maxx1987

i’m perfectly fine with the design of the g2, it’s innovative from the perspective of screen real-estate, and i would gladly they preserve that quality if it meant compromising style/luxury.

AbbyZFresh

Here’s a reason why this will sell despite Samsung now approaching Apple’s problem regarding using the same rehash over and over besides specs.

Apple: “It just works.” = instant sell

Samsung: “We’re the anti-iPhone and we allow you to change your battery and SD cards while using powerful hardware and Google Play and software.” = instant sell.

Rest of Android phones: “uhhhhhhhh?????” = not so much sales as the other two.

Chippah

Barf-O-Rama

Orion

I just don’t consider the S series android anymore. What a complete abomination.

Fry

Holy shite, that thing is ugly

AbbyZFresh

If the Galaxy S4 was the Galaxy S3 S, this phone would be the Galaxy S3 DS or SS.

Sankyou

Does it have a bloat sensor?

Keith Taylor

OMG its not made of unubtainium and cant read my mind.. I dont want this crap…it looks to much like a phone. If it looked like a vagina I would want it…ggeeeeezzzz. I dont own a Samsung but darn folks. Some what a curved, some think its a gimmick. Some what 2k-4k screens ,some think its gimmick. Some want it made of metal others think its just to fine. I dont need finger print scanners but I guess some of you do. If it had the IRIS scanner done right would you have given them a break..probably not. They damned if they do and damned if they dont.

Chippah

SAMEsung is obKNOXious!

Josh P.

You sir, Win the Droid Life Troll of the day award. Congrats.

Chippah

Whats that?

droidify

Looking at the S4 & S5 side by side, I would swear the S4 was the new model. The S5 has bigger bezels, looks thicker, and is just plain hideous

onlygoodtime88

there is a saying that say old is better than the new here you can see it

Gue2

See just how big the difference is when compared to the much more lovely G2.

joejoe5709

Yeesh. Black helps the bezels via an optical illusion, but the G2 is far more beautiful.

Justin W

You can’t discount the fact that the G2 still has smaller bezels, granted it’s only by a few millimeters.

droidify

Couldn’t agree more. Love my G2. I pray they don’t pull a Samsung with the G3

RaptorOO7

If the G2 had come with a microSD slot I would have jumped on it.

Joe

100% agreed. It almost looks like a smaller ugly version of the Note 3, which is what I have (and I’m in love with it). The bezel on my Note 3 looks smaller for sure.

And 2GB of RAM? Really? I know the Note 3 is technically their flagship, but it was released about months ago! I expect every top high-end phone this year to have 3GB or more. And before you say that much RAM isn’t needed – even with the 3GB, when I have a handful of apps running, it does lag a little bit. When it comes to RAM you can never really have too much.

Joe

*6 months ago

Brandon

I don’t get people calling the S5 “hideous” if you liked the S4, how is the S5 hideous when it’s pretty much the exact same phone, except for the nasty back.

Daistaar

No mention of S-Voice. Did they finally get the message about that one?

schlanz

most underwhelming samsung flagship since… ever?

it will still sell more than any other android device, sadly.

I hope the Note 4 isn’t as sad an announcement.

Looking forward to the G3 and whatever is next from Moto.

Daniel Walsh

Sadly this piece of crap will sell like hot cakes

Carl W.

With the size of the S series and the Note series coming closer and closer, it just makes more sense to wait for a Note device. They’ll have these features plus better hardware.

Arty McBert

I’m glad they stuck with a 1080p display. 2560×1400 is completely unnecessary and I would very much like mobile OEMs to not emulate the megapixel war cameras once had. 2560×1600 displays should be focused on laptops, not smartphones. Also, Samsung gets brownie points for remaining with SD card slots.

onlygoodtime88

i think its over for samsung someone else is going to be the king of android this two years to come

Intellectua1

Who Motorola?? or HTC?? maybe LG??

Michael Francis Werling

Whoever pays more on marketing. The Moto X, One, and G2 were all very very good devices last year but none of them came close to outspending Sammy in marketing. As a result, no typical buyers (one who don’t read android blogs) heard about them.

onlygoodtime88

one of these HTC,SONY,LG or maybe a new player comes in like Asus,lonovo to the US

but Motorola they can’t at this time show anything good enough they just been bought

Arty McBert

I would very much like to see Samsung be knocked out of their Android monopoly. I want to see all Android OEMs compete at a fair field and not feel like making a phone is pointless and unprofitable.

Damn it Samsung, you make the iPhone look appealing, and that’s coming from a nexus 5 owner!

Daistaar

I’d a thought you’d sell a N5 for crack!

Tyrone Biggums

Naw man me and Nexus 5 right here got a bond that not even smoking rocks can break!

bobby

I personally have only owned Motorola devices (Bionic, Razr, Razr HD Max, and the Moto X is my current work phone. I want to make a change but all I can think about is LG G2 or the Pro if it comes to Verizon this time around. I sort of wanted to like this phone more but the LG pricing is so aggressive.

SplashMTN

I got the G2 and haven’t regretted it. I can’t attest to how quickly the verizon variant will get kitkat, but my att version got it last night. Solid battery life, extremely fast and an awesome camera. Plus dat screen…..

I get the whole “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it” motif, but what about the things that were broken? How does it handle car bluetooth? How does it handle gaps between music tracks? How does it handle headset buttons? Is there finally a music api that can interact with car USB ports or other docks?

Who said “I want a kids mode so my kids can play with my 700 dollar phone”? Who said “I want a heart rate monitor”? Also, what good is USB 3.0 if we’re still relegated to using MTP which cripples transfer speeds?!

Intellectua1

Who said you wanted all those features you ask?? Well you aren’t the only one buying the phone..

Daistaar

No jokes; I honestly did not understand that at all. Are you agreeing or disagreeing with my sentiment? I’m probably getting the device since it’s free for me, but I don’t currently see it replacing my GS4 which I think is a more attractive device and appears to already have everything meaningful from this phone. I don’t use TouchID on my 5S so I doubt I’d miss it on my S5. I mean, PayPal payments? Really? That’s what you simplify with a scanner? A USB port cover?

Charles Walker

Looks like the new HTC One is set to defeat Samsung once again in everything but sales.

Intellectua1

In everything but sales.. Good one..

El_Big_CHRIS

I think he’s right. The One was fantastic but sales killed it. Sammy has just the name brand to sell products like apple

Intellectua1

Oh I definitely agreed about the sales part. I don’t know if it’s better or not. I don’t pay HTC any attention.

Al-Burrit0

The design seems like a step backwards and the worst blue. Good specs of course, I’m curious why not just make it 3gb of ram? I guess the sensors are nice, that is if they work properly. Digging the wallpaper though! Looks like the poly wallpapers from the playstore…
EDIT: HTC YOUR MOVE!

M3D1T8R

Is 2014 and this new “flagship” is still shipping with just 16GB storage (probably 9 usable if we are lucky), and 32 as an option. Exactly the same as the S3 two years ago. Should be 32 minimum with 64/128 options by now.

And that 2.8AH battery is barely going to keep up with the larger screen/processor upgrades.

James

The S5 kinda looks more like the S2 from a few years ago…looks a lot better to me compared to the 3 or 4

acashe42

I just hope the next Moto X isn’t a letdown following the Lenovo acquisition

evltwn

Next Moto X should still be what was planned by Google and Motorola. The Lenovo acquisition probably won’t get full approval until the end of this year or next. So they shouldn’t have any design input until after that.

It’s a shame that no matter how hard Samsung tries you people are still unappreciative for the effort they put into their new phones. If you don’t like the S5 then simply don’t buy it. No one is forcing you to pay out anything to get this phone. I for one love the new added features and improvements. Especially when it comes to that download booster. I’m definitely going to make the move from the S4 to the S5 as soon as it hits the shelves on Verizon. FYI, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

droidify

Maybe the galaxy S6 will be as good as 2013 G2. No ois sensor in the camera, smaller battery, bigger bezels. Nice work Sammy.

Ant

Once i saw the orchestra I knew it was over lol. Skip the dramatics build a phone that the people want

MichaelFranz

No wireless charging. Would of expected to see that built in at least

sylent101

That things ugly.. lol why does the design get worse every year? I thought the s3 was the best looking.

Eric R.

Why doe the Note3 have 3GB ram and this has 2gb.

Ant

All the same people bashing the S5 will be the same ones comparing other phones to their brand new S5 in april when its available LOL

chris_johns

i downvoted u again

Ant

Since this is Droid Life…. All of the above mentioned specs don’t hold a candle to the Moto-X LOL

chris_johns

i downvoted u

Kyle

There may not be huge updates coming from the Galaxy S4, but a lot of folks are coming off 2 yr contracts with the S3, where these updates will be considered greater and will be ready to upgrade.

Droid Ronin

No wireless charging?

Daistaar

Wait for the 70 dollar S-View cover 3.

cwillen

I saw that too. I’m not sure if it’ll be a dealbreaker for me (or anyone else) but that is a little disappointing. I think I also missed the MSRP.

Samsung has always been good at cramming all sorts of tech into it’s phones. Unfortunately, they cram a lot of stuff no one really wants/needs causes it to fall short in other areas.

Thomas

Guess I’ll be keeping my Note 3 🙂

Charlie R.

No 64gb (internal) option this year. 🙁

socalwrxx

As a galaxy S3 and S4 user, I will NOT be getting the S5. half a year old specs and not much else to upgrade to, I’ll pass.. Im looking at that Xperia Z2 now: 3GB ram, waterproofing (not water resistant), 5.2in

NorCalGuy

And you should have a gb or two left over for you to use after all that bloatware is on there. The only really cool thing that I would want is that ir blaster. Other wise I will be sticking with my nexus 5. Even HTC ‘s new phone has way more promise they added something useful 2nd camera not sure how it will work but at least it sounds/looks better.

Tim242

Right along with their logo bar.

JoshGroff

That’s the best feature!!! (I really don’t mind it, just wish they left the buttons down with it and off the screen. if you have to have a bezel, make use of it…)

I misunderstood your post. I took your minus sign as a dash. Be nice or I’ll have Kellen dock your pay 😉

zepfloyd

The Note 3 has had a Snapdragon 800 and 3GB vs 2 here since last Oct….hardly exciting Samsung. I get this is mostly aimed at GS3 owners at this point, but hardly feels cutting edge.

ERIFNOMI

Why do you need 3GB of RAM in your phone right now?

You don’t.

The Narrator

With TouchWiz. Yes you do.

Why go backwards too? Everything is getting 3gb

ERIFNOMI

TouchWiz is awful, but it’s not that awful.

zepfloyd

That’s a silly argument. I probably don’t need all 16GB RAM in my laptop either, but it’s there and I never have to worry about not having enough. Arguing against ‘more/larger’ storage, speed, efficiency etc in technology will always leave on the wrong end of time.

ERIFNOMI

Your laptop will probably outlive your phone. RAM is pricey right now, so if it’s not going to be needed in the next two years, don’t bother with it.

BodomSlayer

Who the hell needs a phone with 2.5 GHz quad core processor? Or has TouchWiz become so bloated its the only way it works?

Joe Butler

emulators (i.e. GameCube) and higher-end games

JoshGroff

Everything up to ps1 was playable on the xperia play at full speed with minor tweaks. I doubt the S4 would have trouble handling gamecube emulation, considering even the G-Nex could handle NDS.

Joe Butler

lol, okay, you go ahead and try it then.

JoshGroff

I can’t think of a single gamecube game I’d honestly want to play on my phone, especially without a gamecube controller. Also, considering how cheap gamecubes are now, there’s really no reason not to just buy one.

DERP

Because more than 1 out of every 50000 users play emulators on their phone….

Joe Butler

maybe, but he asked “who the hell needs a phone with 2.5GHz quad core processor”. So I told him.

Arty McBert

Playing Gamecube games via a touch screen would seem like a nightmare. Even with a game controller, it just seems pointless to have have such processing power. Phone gaming will always be mediocre at best and will never compare with a 3DS/Vita. Motorola had the right idea on making a phone – multiple cores that have their own dedicated processing rather than have 4+ cores for applications. It’s truly saddening that most Android phones need so much power to be smooth and fluid.

Joe Butler

Well, that’s why you get a 5.5-6.5 inch phone. Or, you could theoretically mirror it to Chromecast, which would essentially give you a portable GameCube console on your phone, which is something I’m really excited about.

hero

godddddddd i’ve wanted a finger print scanner and heart rate monitor ever since i started using android. I bet Samsung’s CEO reads droid-life too and that’s how they knew what we wanted

I loved my HTC One don’t get me wrong. It was one of the best phones in 2013 behind the Moto X. It wasn’t included because I don’t need people putting an overlay on a beautiful OS like Android. Also updates take a while.

JoshGroff

That’s roughly the order in which I’d recommend them too.

Turb0wned

So sad Lenovo might mess up Motorola and the Nexus might be going away. Leaving me with one option. Atleast Apple will finally have a big screen. 4.7 inch screen on superior hardware isn’t to bad. I wish the software wasn’t as boring though.

Moto X and Nexus 5 both have subpar cameras. Neither of those phones are better than the S4, or even the G2.

Michael Glunt II

Yet the Moto X camera blows a Iphone 5 camera away. So whats your point lol, they are still only cellphone cameras.

fillyo75

People with kids find this important. Yes, I have a DSLR, it’s usually not with me. Outside of talking and battery life, camera is second most important feature. I have a rooted S4, debloated, with Nova launcher and it is very snappy and camera is great, best phone I have ever owned to date.

Sankyou

I’ve been happy with the X for kids pictures. Zoe on the HTC One was slightly better but overall the camera is solid on the X.

Whoa, no need to make things up buddy. I love my Moto X but the iphone 5 takes much better pics than almost any phone out.

Michael Glunt II

Make things up? I just went from Iphone 5 to Moto X. Camera is way better on the Moto X…. As I said, they are all still only cellphone cameras anyway, so its all irrelevant.

fartbubbler

QFT.

Justen DeBowles

only one of those phones sells like the Galaxy devices will… put a MotoX next to a galaxy and 9.5/10 the galaxy will get purchased. stock is boring bro

Silky Johnson

Are the larger bezels due in any part to the fact that they made it water proof?

DoctorJB

Just making room for the obligatory Verizon logos.

Franz

So are most of the S-Branded apps gone now in favor of Google Apps because of the cross license deal?

DJyoSNOW

If I read that right I’m personally pissed about the 5.1″. My DNA is 5″ I was looking to upgrade in screen size. (Not .1″)

Sankyou

I had the opposite reaction. Please make the phone smaller. I have stubby little fingers dammit.

DJyoSNOW

OK, now it boils down to personal preference. When I could get a slightly outdated note 3 at $100 with trade in. That and the s5 battery did not seem extremely beefy. BooooO

Sankyou

Yeah I agree. The differences between the Note3 and this would have me leaning toward the Note. Stylus, bigger battery and more ram vs waterproof and mostly innocuous sensors.

Federico Simionato

Can’t even watch the front. Massive bezels.
The back is nice though.

Blue Sun

Get rid of that stupid home button already Sammy.

Carlos Lopez

No 3000mAh or higher battery? no thanks this phone is out for me

Tyrone Biggums

You sound like your blowing off a phone for 200mAh. Really?

Carlos Lopez

It makes a difference and is a major deal breaker for me. Besides that its the same as the s4 but the design is much worse to add to that. better?

JoshGroff

Well, there goes my theory, how much does that extra 200mAh really impact battery though, like 20-30 mins of on screen?

Carlos Lopez

id say an hour or two, after all the g2’s battery is only 200mah different than the s4’s but gets much better battery life than the s4

JoshGroff

That could be more than just the battery at play. Assuming all other things equal, the battery increase would only be ~7%, which assuming like 8 hours on screen is half an hour.

Carlos Lopez

That’s true I guess I’ll just have to wait and see how well the 2800mah battery works. cuz it looks like it’d be a good phone. with the exception of the design of course

JoshGroff

Yeah, but knowing how popular they were with the S3 and 4, you could just get a replacement back cover.

Carlos Lopez

Yeah I was thinking that. It’s really gonna come down to if I can get a full day of heavy use on it.

hans

the 200mAh doesn’t contribute THAT much to the G2’s superior battery life

JoshGroff

Most of it would lie in the software and how it handles power, and the processor, radio, and screen’s battery efficiency.

calculatorwatch

Actually the S4 only has a 2600mAh battery so the S5 is a little bigger. But considering the 32% increase in clock speed is accompanied by only an 8% increase in battery size, Samsung better have made some pretty significant increases in power management if they want the S5 to even last as long as its predecessor.

JoshGroff

Probably sarcasm, hard to tell over text tho.

Tyrone Biggums

Those dimples…

HowEasy

Am I the only one who thinks that the S line phones just look like a childs toy?
They’ve fallen into the same realm as Apple, selling by the name and not by the device itself. I see zero major upgrades from the S4.

I hate it. It makes me disgusted to see this coming from Android. I would expect no different from Apple, but the fact that Android is turning into the same rehash year after year is horrible to me.
Not to mention the fact that Samsung will make it half impossible to unlock the bootloader without going through a ton of hoops as most companies are now falling into.

Android is an open platform for the people to enjoy as they see fit. Now with Touchwiz being more intrusive than ever, I wish I could just burn down Samsung Mobile…
Having been here since the start, I love the direction stock is going. I hate what manufacturers are doing to the OS.

I love me my Android, sorry for the rage. 😛

cjohn4043

and yet, they will sell like hotcakes.

JoshGroff

Of course, it’s the new tech toy.

HowEasy

I hate it. It makes me disgusted to see this coming from Android. I would expect no different from Apple, but the fact that Android is turning into the same rehash year after year is horrible to me.
Not to mention the fact that Samsung will make it half impossible to unlock the bootloader without going through a ton of hoops as most companies are now falling into.

Android is an open platform for the people to enjoy as they see fit. Now with Touchwiz being more intrusive than ever, I wish I could just burn down Samsung Mobile…
Having been here since the start, I love the direction stock is going. I hate what manufacturers are doing to the OS.

I love me my Android, sorry for the rage. 😛

DoctorJB

The vast number of phone buyers don’t read reviews, try out multiple devices and find out what new features or devices will be coming out in the following months. These people buy iPhones and Galaxy devices. There’s a lot more of them than there are of us which is why Apple and Samsung make money while the others do not.

HowEasy

Reminds me of that one scene I think Jimmy Kimmel did where he took an iPhone 4S and gave it to a bunch of people and told them it was the iPhone 5 and all of the people were like “Yeah, its totally bigger and seems faster than the current one”

I think people subconsciously assume that if something is popular (Beats headphones,etc.) it must mean that it is good. If not, why would everyone be buying it? The problem with that line of thinking is that if most people are morons, then….

Christopher J Cusack

You can only re-invent the wheel so many times. Samsung found a product that is successful with the latest tech. Apple has done the same. What more features do people want every 4 months? At some point, it would be frustrating if every new product was vastly different and it would take huge amounts of research and development (as well as a huge cost passed onto you) to come up with earth-shattering changes and features every generation.

No one can take you seriously when you say ridiculous stuff like that – love it or hate it, Samsung is responsible for Android’s huge success, not Google, not Nexus phones, and certainly not Motorola…. if you think otherwise, you’re thinking with your heart and can’t comprehend dollars and what they mean to big business

The iPhone is much better product than Samsung’s junk. At least with Apple you get quality.

The Narrator

And 16/32!?!?

Talk about 5gb usable. Wow

RaptorOO7

7.8GB of usable space on a 16GB phone is a joke. Why are they even offering it. Just another GS4 blow back moment for Samsung.

Brandon

Yea, in this day and age 16/32 GB is ridiculous. 32 GB should be the standard and 64/128 should be the upgrades. Also what the hell is with only certain capacities being available on certain carriers? When I got my S4 I saw that they released 16/32/64 capacities I wanted to get the 64 GB version….only to find out that it won’t be available AT ALL in the USA. 32 GB was only an option on AT&T so I was stuck with the 16 GB version and got a 64 GB MicroSD.

Brian Rowe

Because the US carriers don’t want you to be overwhelmed with too much storage. Why would you store items locally when you can blow through your data caps with cloud storage! Just makes things easier not having all that money in your pocket weighing you down and hurting your back. They do it for us because they care about our sitting posture.

JoshGroff

Wow, no downvotes from Samsung fanboys, I’m surprised. Kudos to you good sir!

The Narrator

Down votes aren’t on Disqus anymore lol.

JoshGroff

That explains it! When did this happen? lol

Jeff C

feel like no downvotes is like getting a participation trophy in youth soccer. if u can follow my line of thinking

RaptorOO7

Exactly, Disqus doesn’t want the down votes to show or count anymore. Ditch disqus for something real

Its lame but it does have 100 upvotes… Gotta count for something. Obviously not from a money making stand point but for people like us, Samsung is ruining Android.

Brandon

Yea when I saw that earlier it pissed me off, trolling BGR is no longer as fun.

TheDrunkenClam

With apple you get OS consistency. When you pick up an android phone, you never know which new crappy modifications to android you’ll have to deal with.
Give me the Google play edition of this phone on VZW (won’t happen) and I’d buy it.
Otherwise, I refuse to support a manufacturers skin.

BizzleC

I’m running the GPE on my verizon S4… I actually liked touchwiz, but now I’m never going back… GPE with KitKat is freakin amazing

Scott Webber

Can you explain how you make that happen? Isn’t the S4 bootloader super duper locked?

BizzleC

As long as you achieved root on MDK (Loki) and flash the MK2 modem before flashing the ROM, you can run it.. it’s far and away the best ROM in my opinion. Go over to xda and look in the Verizon s4 section, read the entire OP and jump on it if you are compatible

I do not have the device (moto X here), just curious. So am I correct that if you are updated past a certain point you are screwed?

BizzleC

For now.. hopefully within the next six months they allow the unlock (cross your fingers and toes haha)

KleenDroid

Nobody that has Loki is dumb enough to take updates. And those that were are as you said…. Screwed.

KatsumeBlisk

Do you have a link to your ROM? I’m just running CM11 on my VZW S4, but I’m always looking out for new ones to try.

Ninja Edit: I guess you posted it already. Never mind. 🙂

Christopher J Cusack

Ever buy a PC or laptop from a big box store? I hope not, cause then you’d be buying a skinned product with inconsistent features. Oh, also, don’t ever buy a Mac that’s been pre-setup for audio production or video production as you may find inconsistent features, too. Devices are tailored for specific markets, the fact that Apple phones are all the exact same across devices with same “version” of OS, is only because Apple does not license it’s platform to other manufacturers. Life is dynamic.. so are most modern electronics. Enjoy that instead of balking at differences in products. Consistency or lack thereof doesn’t not matter if the device you purchase does all the features you are seeking while appreciating the form it comes in. If you like vanila, then that’s cool, but that’s a personal preference, not a “crappy modification”.

jim

now that’s funny

RaptorOO7

How lame that Disqus no longer shows down votes WTF.

As for the iphone being much better that is highly subjective opinion. I have owned it many times and every time have sold it within a couple months to go back to Android. Simply put it doesn’t hold a candle to the diversity of the Android universe or the ability to customize it to your liking.

Christopher J Cusack

Lol wut? THey’re comparable to each other. No one is better in terms of quality. It’s like saying Pepsi is better than coke or vice versa. SIlly apple-fanboys

Turb0wned

Lol “wut?” No, you dont have to be a fan boy to admit that the iPhone is much better quality than any Samgunk phone.

Brandon

Surprised I’m seeing this here with 100 upvotes, I thought I was on BGR for a minute lol But with the release of the S5 the Galaxy line is definitely the iPhone of the Android world. It’s pretty damn ridiculous the the only upgrades over the S4 are a better processor and a screen 0.1 inches bigger. All this success is definitely going to their heads.

DropDead

im not a fan of apple product. apples not worth the price anyways and same goes for this new s5.

jazz

And they get all your money and you don’t get amy of the freedom and also if you’re a apple fan gtfo of this website

Turb0wned

Go change your tampon, it’s a cell phone. I have a Moto X by the way.

nicholas cusmina

HowEasy, I agree with you 100%

abqnm

If Samsung spent some money on building a high quality feeling device rather than just a high quality internal specs device it would be great. They shoved just about every damn technology and feature from most other manufacturers into this device and still managed to make it like junk.

James Monday

I agree. But if you are serious in asking “Am I the only one…”, apparently you don’t read DL comments very often.

akhnaten

Don’t forget that Google just sold Moto (the last hope for innovation in Android hardware), primarily to appease Samsung and LG.

Aj

One they still own some part of Moto dev team (cant rembear the name of it). Two the Nexus is all you need.

Turb0wned

Rumors are the Nexus is going away to. Soon you will be left with only choosing Samgunk or LGarbage. Pretty sad. HTC deserves to be on top after the HTC One, behind the Moto X of course.

So creative in your name calling, iSheep in MotoXclothing! So much fun!

Lucky Armpit

Not toys, just nothing to make me go WOW. And before people start saying how “it’s cool to hate on Samsung”, I’m not hating; it’s just that Samsung is doing the same thing over and over, year after year. You can have all the BloatWiz you want.

Unfortunately, Samsung will sell zillions of these. The sad thing is that outside of the very small techie crowd (us) vs. smartphone users in general, most will never know the true beauty that is stock Android. They think BloatWiz = Android and that just makes me die a little on the inside every time I hear that.

d-rock

uhm…don’t buy samsung. Good thing you still have Nokia!! haha

morteum

I see your point, and I agree to an extent. At the same time, what do you expect? Some kind of completely new and innovative product every single year? I think as consumers our expectations might be growing too big. Sure, some products come out with new and (mostly) original ideas (Moto X), but look at the vast majority of flagship phones. They all do the same thing. The Xperia Z2 looks almost exactly like the Z1, yet it is being appraised as a good chunk of Droid-Life’s next phone. The Nexus 5 is considered a godsend, but even it is just a spec increase. We are getting to the realm where bumping things up is as good as it gets. You have to at least give Samsung some credit for trying out some wacky ideas once in a while (eye scrolling and such).

guest

Dude… who cares? You’re in the minority. Normal people don’t give a crap about Touchwiz. You can disable most of the features so it’s not like it’s a huge inconvenience… stop whining.

People scream for larger iterative iPhone updates because is has he unmistakable flaw of being way too small. But for the S line, I don’t understand what you want.. completely different looking body? Why would they do that when this one sells like hot cakes. Lose the touchwiz? go away, not happening soon.

Christopher J Cusack

To me, anyone who has an s3 or s4 currently, shouldn’t bother with the s5. I mean, s3 and s4 are l read both great modern phones. I’ll wait until s6 or s7 for this reason as well as the fact that I’d like to enjoy a paid off phone for awhile. The s5 seems AWESOMESAUCE but I will wait so the advances are worth it to me, I mean, my phone is only a year old, after all, and does everything most phones do, aside from the interface and feature improvements that aren’t earthshaking (with the frequency of new models nowadays, the improvements are lesser from model to model, which makes sense) so might as well wait for a few generations until something IS new and boldly innovative. For those looking in the market for an upgrade from something old or their first, s5 is perfect

Jaden Keuten

not upgrading from my S III…for obvious reasons.

Bionicman

Nobody is forcing you to buy a Samsung device. Burning down Samsung Mobile? Little extreme over a phone huh. Be thankful we have choices and aren’t stuck with 1 phone or manufacturer that looks the same with almost no differences. Personally I think they did some good things with the S5 and I think they did some questionable things with it like increase the size. ohh and to the below reply from Tub0wned, iPhone better than Samsungs “junk” is a straight up matter of opinion. looking at what they used for materials on the Note 3 and now with the S5, they have come along way from making junk.

Droid22

Isnt everyone in the press saying that touchwiz is toned downed. What about the snapdragon 800 vs the 600.

I actually liked the back of that device. Much, much better than the cold aluminum of the iPad Mini.

nicholas cusmina

Your missing the point, its a new feature. It has a built in cheese grater!

Feed Jake

You mean like the back of an OG Nexus 7? So you just insulted a Google Nexus product on Droid-Life?! I declare that reyalP be banned from this site and made an example for tools alike! Here here!

Oh, did I over exaggerate there? Sorry. This site used to be worth visiting the comment section on. Now we get to read ignorant comments like this. Congrats bro, you got up votes for bashing Samsung. Super original. When two years ago everyone was praying that someone would rise up and challenge Apple.

Justen DeBowles

THANK YOU! I see that all the time and it’s just ridiculous now. Samsung is the ONLY one challenging apple… and scores major points for android as a whole… but they’re hated so much for it now.

It’s for their hand-ventilating AC feature, coming with a software update Q3 2014.

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